Ambati Rayudu’s maiden ton gives India 2-0 lead
Rayudu became the fourth oldest Indian batsman to score his maiden ton in ODIs
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-11-07 00:51 GMT
Ahmedabad: Ambati Rayudu slammed his maiden hundred as India produced yet another comprehensive batting performance to beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second ODI here on Thursday.India now lead five-match series 2-0.Batting first, Sri Lanka scored 274 for eight in stipulated 50 overs with skipper Angelo Mathews scoring 92. In reply, India never looked in any sort of trouble as they chased down the target with minimum fuss in only 44.3 overs.
With Virat Kohli promoting him at No 3, the 29-year-old Rayudu justified his skipper's faith scoring an unbeaten 121 off 118 balls with the help of 10 fours and four sixes in an innings that was paced perfectly.He shared two fruitful partnerships off 122 runs for the second wicket with Shikhar Dhawan (79) and 116 for the third wicket with Kohli (49) as ‘Men In Blue’ again made the inexperienced Sri Lankan bowling attack look pedestrian.
Fittingly enough, it was Rayudu, who finished the match with an inside out boundary off leggie Seekkuge Prasanna.With this century, 29-year-old Rayudu became the fourth oldest Indian batsman to score his maiden ton in ODIs after Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath and Robin Singh.Growing in confidence after reaching his half century, Rayudu lofted Dhammika Prasad for his third six when in the 80s, then confidently smote off spinner Suraj Randiv for another maximum in his 90s before reaching the coveted landmark with a single to square leg.
Rayudu’s previous highest was 64 not out made in England at Nottingham in August as he showed a lot of maturity during his innings.Having taken two catches and also effected a run-out, Rayudu deservingly won the man-of-the-match award.The Guntur-born batsman first steadied the ship before going full throttle.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka: K. Perera lbw b Yadav 0, T. Dilshan b Patel 35, K. Sangakkara c Dhawan b Yadav 61, M. Jayawardene c Rayudu b Ashwin 4, A. Mathews (not out) 92, S. Prasanna c Rayudu b Jadeja 13, S. Priyanjan run out (Rayudu/Jadeja) 1, T. Perera b Patel 10, S. Randiv b Ashwin 10, GD Prasad (not out) 30. Extras (lb 10, w 6, nb 2) 18. Total (for eight wickets in 50 overs) 274.
FoW: 1-4, 2-55, 3-64, 4-154, 5-177, 6-179, 7-205, 8-220.
Bowling: Umesh Yadav 10-1-54-2, Sharma 10-0-58-0, Ashwin 10-1-49-2, Patel 10-1-39-2, Jadeja 10-0-64-1.
India: A. Rahane c Jayawardene b Prasad 8, S. Dhawan c Priyanjan b Prasanna 79, A. Rayudu (not out) 121, V. Kohli c Randiv b Prasanna 49, S. Raina lbw b Prasanna 14, R. Jadeja (not out) 1. Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 1) 3. Total (for four wickets in 44.3 overs) 275.
FoW: 1-18, 2-140, 3-256, 4-270.
Bowling: Mathews 4-0-18-0, Gamage 8-1-28-0, Prasad 7-0-51-1, Perera 4-0-35-0, Randiv 10-0-66-0, Dilshan 2-0-9-0, Prasanna 7.3-0-53-3, Priyanjan 2-0-14-0.